1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to a microwave oven, and more particularly, to a microwave oven capable of guiding a manipulation order of a function operator provided in a control panel thereof.
2. Description of the Related Art
Generally, a microwave oven uses a microwave to heat food or the like. Recently, there has been developed a microwave oven which has a general function using the microwave to defrost and warm up the food, a grill function using a heater, and a combination function using both the heater and the microwave.
Further, the microwave oven can comprise a convection heater and a convection fan behind a cooking compartment, thereby performing an oven function.
A conventional microwave oven comprises a main body; a door opening and closing the main body; and a control panel placed in a front of the main body and comprising a function operator to perform various functions (defrosting, warming up, oven-burning, etc.). The function operator provided in the control panel comprises a function selecting key to select a predetermined function, a detailed function setting key to set a detailed item of the selected function, and a starting key to start the selected function.
With this configuration, the following manipulation order of the microwave oven varies according to what function is selected through the function selection key. As the microwave oven has various functions, a user has to already know the manipulation order following a predetermined function selected through the function selection key. If a user doesn't know the following manipulation order, he/she should refer to a guide book or ask others about it whenever selecting the following detailed function.
To solve the foregoing problem, a microwave oven has been disclosed in Korean Patent Application No. 1997-59119, which not only indicates what buttons are capable of being manipulated after a user selects a predetermined function through the control panel, but also displays contents that correspond to the buttons that are capable of being manipulated.
However, in this conventional microwave oven, a user should check a lighting state of a lamp for a character displayed on a display portion and then set the detailed functions corresponding to the lighting state in sequence, thereby making the use of the oven less convenient. Also, the size of the character letter displayed on the display portion is too small to visually check easily with the naked eye, making this step inconvenient for a user.